A Review of “The Green Knight (2021)“

 

I love the Arthurian legend but most stories concerning it in TV and film is mostly about the titular King Arthur. However, The Green Knight is focused on one of the knights instead, Sir Gawain. The premise is “King Arthur’s headstrong nephew embarks on a daring quest to confront the Green Knight, a mysterious giant who appears at Camelot. Risking his head, he sets off on an epic adventure to prove himself before his family and court”. So is Sir Gawain’s story worth telling or should we just go back to King Arthur?

Firstly, this movie is visually stunning. The cinematography by Andrew Droz Palermo is gorgeous and very magical. Almost every single shot in this film is like a painting and that alone makes it feel very fantastical. The lighting is also something to admire. At the beginning of the journey is a dreary, gloomy colour of the towns but it then goes to the green and grey forest that feels haunting yet beautiful. As the movie progress, it starts to become more colourful to signify the journey’s end but also the more fantasy elements. The world itself is so interesting to watch as well. Many weird magical elements occur in this (that I won’t spoil) that is just so oddly fascinating to watch. The music score by Daniel Hart is also phenomenal. It always complements the scene, the story and the world of The Green Knight. It is occasionally eerie but also sometimes has a fantastical flair to it that is just a blessing to listen to.

Dev Patel is the main lead and plays Sir Gawain. He does an amazing job as he perfectly conveys the struggle and the toll this journey takes on Gawain. Ralph Ineson is also remarkable as the Green Knight as Ralph gives a powerful voice that feels creepy but not downright villainous that exactly fits the character. The rest of the supporting cast all do a good job as well. Special mention goes to Sean Harris as the King who gives a convincing wise old man performance and Barry Keoghan who is just very ominous in his performance. Another thing I love about this film is the real mystery throughout the story. There are a fair amount of obstacles and weird scenarios that occur in Gawain’s journey that are just intriguing to dissect. You end up questioning a lot about what is real or not. The film never outright explains everything, so it is up to us to try and solve or interpret the trials which are enjoyable to do. There is also the constant theme about honour and bravery that sounds simple on paper but is handle here in a more provocative manner that just works.

However, the film not explaining everything results in way too many questions. The movie doesn’t even explain why the Green Knight exist or why it is even there? The film does imply that it was the result of witches but if this is the case then what was the motive of the witches in doing that? Not explaining the titular character’s is very problematic as now we have to go through assumptions of their motive instead of a proper confirmation. There is also a lot of just weird stuff that happens with no proper explanation and you’re just going to have to accept it when watching this. Due to this, I can understand The Green Knight turning people off because it is intentionally vague on nearly everything. Additionally, this is an incredibly slow-burning movie. It goes at a very slow snail pace with a lot of scenes of Gawain walking or riding or even just genuinely nothing. The Green Knight is at 130 minutes long and honestly, it didn’t need to be that long considering the number of shots of literally nothing.

Overall, The Green Knight is not a movie for everyone. It is an artistic and slow movie but it is a very unique movie that tells a profound story about honour. Well, that is how I interpret it and if you watch this then you may interpret it differently. Sir Gawain’s story was an interesting one and I hope for tales like this from the Arthurian legend.